It is time for all Democrats to support Medicare for All

Sign the petition

The petition to congressional Democrats reads:

“It is time for Democrats to go on the offensive and take bold, decisive steps toward a health care system that puts people over profits. The majority of the country supports single payer health care. Join Sens. Sanders, Merkley and Warren and Rep. Conyers to support legislation that would make Medicare available to all Americans."

Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans have delayed their Trumpcare push thanks to the massive grassroots pressure that you helped build.1Now is the time for Democrats to go on the offensive with a real solution to our health care crisis that provides universal health care for all.

The last few months have made it more than clear that right-wing Republican extremists are going to be relentless in their attempts to steal health care from millions of people in order to give tax breaks to millionaires. Every version of their cruel and immoral Trumpcare bill threw women, low-income children, families and seniors under the bus.2 Republicans are already revising their deadly bill, and there is no doubt that they will try to ram it through again.

To fight back, Democrats cannot just resist Trumpcare. They must unite behind a bold and clear alternative like Medicare for All, also known as “single-payer” health care. Early this year, Rep. John Conyers introduced a Medicare for All bill in the House. And recently, progressive champions Sens. Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley and Elizabeth Warren called on Democrats to push for a national single-payer health care system.3,4Now, we must show just how many Americans support this simple and commonsense alternative. Help us build momentum now so Democrats know exactly what we expect them to do.

Tell Democrats: It is time to fight back. We need Medicare for All.

Massive grassroots support for Medicare for All would shine an even harsher light on Republicans and their cruel, heartless bill. Unfortunately, Democrats are divided when it comes to a national single-payer system. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer have so far dodged discussions about making Medicare available to all Americans. Recently, Leader Pelosi encouraged supporters of single-payer to focus on state options instead.5 In contrast, while McConnell was trying to ram Trumpcare through the Senate, Sen. Warren was out barnstorming in her home state urging Democrats to embrace single-payer.6Progressives know that we could solve today’s health care crisis by expanding a program that is already up and running – and working.

It is important to be clear: The problems with health care in America are not because of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). American health care costs so much and heals so little in part because predatory insurance companies and Big Pharma stand between people and their doctors and use monopoly power to rob us blind. The ACA made modest but still life-changing reforms that we should defend against Republican attacks. Millions of people have already been helped – people with pre-existing conditions, young adults who get to stay on their parents' plan, beneficiaries of the Medicaid expansion and those who would have faced lifetime caps on coverage.

Now we need to expand the ACA’s reforms. Medicare for All would leave the medical system in place, but replace the for-profit insurance companies that drive up costs without making us any healthier. So it’s no wonder that most Americans – including 41 percent of Republicans – support Medicare for All.7We need to put pressure on Democrats to be bold and put Republicans on the record opposing a single-payer health care plan with broad support.

Tell Democrats: It is time to fight back. We need Medicare for All.

Medicare already covers 40 million Americans over the age of 65, providing quality care at prices that are much lower than the private market. If we start by lowering the Medicare eligibility age, it will provide competition to bloated predatory insurance companies and bring us closer to the day when people are covered from birth.

Medicare and Medicaid are our nation’s most effective and efficient health care programs, but right-wing Republicans have long had their sights set on dismantling our social safety net. Their ultimate goal has been to end Medicare as we know it and cause skyrocketing premiums and loss of coverage for nearly 57 million of us. We cannot fight back with half-hearted, corporate solutions. We need to show the millions of Americans who love Medicare that progressives have an alternative vision to make it available to all.

If we want to make health care for all a reality for the entire country, we must make sure Democrats take decisive steps toward a national health care system that puts people over profits. Now is the time for Democrats to put the full weight of their caucus behind Medicare for All.